Hiding Within Part 4
by N.V.9
Summary: You ask me, the world is one giant game. You have your players, your rules, and then it's on. What the goal of it is, is something no one is sure of. It's just a never ending tedious game that sometimes needs to lighten up. Maybe if the game started over once in a while, everything would be good. Wouldn't be so boring. Wouldn't be so heartbreaking. COMPLETE


**Look toward profile/bio for disclaimer and anything else involving this story.**

You ask me, the world is one giant game. You have your players, your rules, and then it's on. What the goal of it is, is something no one is sure of. It's just a never ending tedious game that sometimes needs to lighten up. Maybe if the game started over once in a while, everything would be good. Wouldn't be so boring. Wouldn't be so heartbreaking.

The game of life, a human's toy that little kids play. It hits so close to the real world but getting passed the first hour of that...not worth playing.

Sure it hits on the main points of real life, makes you think, 'damn I can go into debt just like that' or 'where the hell did kid number five come from?'. Then you wonder what kind of sick man invented that thing for kids to play. What kid under twelve knows about debt and marriage? About having kids? They're all probably thinking that they'd get a kid if they land on a certain box in the future. That they'd just pop out of no where and you look in the rear view mirror and say something like 'huh, another one? Gotta get a new van soon'.

But enough about the game, the real world is ten times that and worse. Sometimes better if you're lucky. Sometimes in between.

Sometimes you're just like us. A shifter hidden in the human's world.

-(X)-

Kiba sighed in boredom, once more going over his past. There really was no heartbreaking, tramatic event. Just a leopard that grew up and was forced out. It was expected of him. His clan only keeping the females. There was no shock or questioning of why. No tears or sad lingering glances. There was simply him getting up one morning and knowing it was time to go. His mother watching from the background.

His journey was pretty much a few months of walking and traveling before stumbling on a scent of another of his kind. Unable to ignore it, he ran toward the cat. Ran until he found him and he couldn't leave. Though Gaara's scent was not of his clan, not of any clan really, Kiba had thought of home. It comforted him in a way he didn't know he needed. Though he was pushed to his limits by Hidan, the tiger not wanting him near his mate for some unknown reason, Haku had accepted him and that was enough. He and Naruto got on well enough, both of them of the same attitude until it changed. Until Naruto's life became the topic of every cat they came across. Each wanting to end the curse of the jaguar. Curse, morons. Fearing that Naruto would bring death to them and theirs, each tried to bring him his own. Kiba thought it stupid, cats dying for no reason at all. But it changed Naruto. Made him grow up.

Then Deidara came along, the little Lynx so broken, he couldn't be fixed. Kiba wasn't there to find Deidara. Naruto had been given the honor. Killing the humans that hurt the lynx. Hidan breaking him free from his cage and Haku trying to heal him.

It was Deidara that made them all age a few more years. The pain and suffering the little cat must have had at a human's hands. The fear that never left him. What he had seen, Kiba didn't know. No one knew. No one could get the cat to open up that much. Not even Haku.

It was that event that made Kiba see the world with different eyes. That made Kiba see the humans as heartless. He didn't hate them, not all of them, but he didn't like them either. He toyed with them. Sometimes he toyed a little too much and the others would have to help him cover up his fun before Haku found out. He knew Hidan could care less about the humans. Gaara saw himself as the same light as them. Naruto didn't say either way. But Haku loved them. Why that was, he wasn't sure, but Haku thought of them as children of some sort that needed to be protected. Deidara, he feared them, he feared everything.

With Deidara, all had learned to make as much noise as possible to not frighten the cat that got lost in his mind. All had learned to let only Haku comfort him when the nightmares came. All had learned to keep space between him and them. All had learned to let him be and protect him from a distance.

"What are you thinking?" Gaara asked as he sat beside him on the porch. Though the cold didn't really affect them as it did the humans, they were not made for this. Uncaring of what the others thought, he and Gaara always wore jackets, thin ones, but it was enough.

"Breakfast." Kiba grinned. Sometimes he felt as if he forced his humor. Sometimes he felt as if everything was fake. But he couldn't change his ways. He wanted his new found family to be safe and happy. If he could make the jokes that made them laugh, he was content. "I see the smirk, no matter how small, I see it."

"Hm." Gaara said, turning to look at him. His eyes weren't so lost anymore, Kiba thought, they looked at peace. Taking a sniff of the air, Kiba felt his eyes widen when he smelled it. The bonding that couldn't be mistaken for anything else.

"Really now..." he gaped in shock before grinning. "I'm happy for you."

"Thank you." Gaara said, running a hand through his hair.

"So tell me why you are here and not with Neji?" Kiba asked. "Because I've seen Naruto and Sasuke, those two can't keep hand, nor paw, off eachother, humping away no matter where they are. It's only a matter of time before Sasuke starts having cubs like crazy...well if he can carry them to full term, that is."

"Neji's, uh, working. I wanted to go with him, but I couldn't. He'll be back in a few hours though." Gaara flushed, probably wanting to be like the jaguar.

"Run." Kiba suggested, seeing the leopard fidget. "Exhaust yourself before you do something stupid."

"Yeah, alright." Gaara said, shedding his coat. Within a few steps he was gone. For a while, Kiba watched the last place Gaara had been. What was it like to feel the bond of a mate? To want to be with them at all times and feel complete.

Instead he was torturing himself. Pretending not to see what was right in front of him. Pretending it didn't exist.

Besides, why would he tie himself to a cat that didn't want to be tied? To a cat that saw the world as his enemy, human's as devils, and shifters that didn't hate them, in the same light? He knew Shikamaru knew that they were united, but he also played the fool. There was lingering glances, need in their eyes, but Kiba turned away before it became to noticeable. Before he caved and claimed what couldn't be touched.

When something moved in front of him, Kiba blinked before smiling gently at the little lynx wishing to return inside. Getting up slowly, he moved farther away from the entrance of the cabin, only after opening the door, "Good run?" he asked Deidara.

The lynx nodded once, before skittishly making his way up the stairs and inside. Counting to ten, Kiba moved back toward the front door, making sure to stomp his feet just incase Deidara came back out. Closing the door, he put his hands in his pockets and looked around, maybe he needed a run too.

-(X)-

"Snowball, you should really smile more, might make people talk to you." Kiba suggested a day later, spotting Shikamaru trimming some bushes. His slim form uncaring of the wind around them, the cold eating at them. He knew Shikamaru hated the humans, no hate was too strong a word...what Shikamaru wanted was a life without them near. The way it was in his mountain top. For some reason, the snow leopards blamed the humans for their mysterious mountain falling to pieces. They said it was everything the humans had created, taken, that ruined their home. In a way, Kiba could see that, but sometimes things just had to end.

"I rather choke on lead." Shikamaru stated boredly, his posture telling all he rather be somewhere else. If not for Itachi's fast talking, then becoming a manager of the resort, Shikamaru most likely would have been fired.

"So sweet and innocent. I always told-"

"If you are here to tell me idiotic jokes about things I care nothing about, then tell them to those humans you love so much." Shikamaru glared before stalking off, glaring at a girl that tried to ask him a question.

With a sigh of annoyance, Kiba turned and headed back into the wilderness of the woods. When he was far enough in, he shifted and made his way through the trees and snow, wishing he had another that was meant to be his. One that didn't hate him for things he couldn't fix.

When a familiar scent hit his nose, he paused and looked around. Moving farther to the north, he pushed passed a pile of snow and saw the little lynx sitting upon a boulder he seemed to favor. His eyes, as always, locked on the sky, unseeing as they saw what held him so tightly. What no one but he would ever see.

Before he could take one step forward, he saw another shadow, one that blended more into the world then he did. When he realized it was Itachi, he narrowed his eyes. What was the cat doing? Why was he moving closer to Deidara? Before Kiba knew it, Itachi was in front of the unsuspecting cat.

That wasn't good, he thought in shock. If Deidara found him so close, he'd panic. If Kiba made any noise now, Deidara would spot Itachi and still panic. Just as he thought this, Deidara blinked and turned his gaze to the ground. When he spotted Itachi so close, the lynx hissed, lashing out as he fell off the boulder. When Itachi tried to help him, Deidara hissed again, his fear overtaking him, the scent engulfing the air around them.

Without thought, Kiba was running, his body slamming into the snow leopard and pushing him back. When Itachi went to strike him, Kiba held his ground. His claws lashing out as Itachi's teeth dug into him. Reminding Kiba of the last time they fought. Of the wounds they gave one another before Naruto broke in.

"Stop." Came a command so strong none could fight it. Pulling back with a hiss on his lips, Kiba watched Itachi, daring him to strike, knowing Hidan would interfer with brutel force. "What the hell has gotten into you!" he snarled angrily, moving to step between them, his eyes locked on Kiba. "You know Deidara-"

"He was too close. He scared him!" Kiba snarled, shifting and pointing his finger at Itachi. "I couldn't stand the fear, I had to help Deidara! Stay the hell away from him!"

"I did nothing but stand-"

"You do not stand near him at all!" Hidan hissed as he grasped Itachi around the neck. "You leave him be and stay away from him! He isn't like us! He's-"

"Mine." Itachi got out, not bothering to fight Hidan's hold. "He is my mate. I was trying to claim him-"

"You can't just claim him like another cat!" Kiba shouted, not really surprised about the information. If every one else was was finding their bonded mate, why couldn't Itachi find his in Deidara? "You have to watch everything you do! His mind isn't all there!"

"You speak of him as if he's-"  
"Broken." Hidan cut them off, moving back a few steps to pace. "He's broken. His past is holding him. He's with Haku now, for he ran that way. But Deidara holds his fear as close as one would a lover. With him, you can't surprise him. You can't touch him. You can't force him to speak. You let him be and he'll eventually warm up to you."

"I don't understand." Itachi frowned.

"Deidara was kept in a cage by the humans for years, since he was a cub. He was tortured and abused. We suspect there is more to that, but he won't say. Whatever he saw, while there, broke whatever was left of him. He is a body of a cat with nothing else. He loves, but even his love isn't great enough to overcome his fear. He doesn't laugh, smile, speak, eat without Haku reminding him to eat. When he does speak it is only to Haku when no one else is near and when we are, he stutters so badly, he can't speak at all. But even then, we try to save the cat from a panic attack by stopping him. His fear increases when he speaks to us. His eyes don't always see what is really there as his mind takes him away."

"He is mine."

"Then treat him like fine china." Kiba snarled, wanting to beat Itachi again for the fear he caused in the lynx.

"What if that's why-"

"Do not force him." Hidan snarled. "Force will break him farther then he's already broken. If he is yours, make him see that you are not one to fear. That you are he in another's body."

"Very well." Itachi nodded, looking lost and alone. "I'll go about it your way."

"You best, cat," Kiba growled, "Else you will live a very short life."

-(X)-

"Not many people can face off against Itachi." Shikamaru commented when he came across him. "And you've done it twice already."

"Not many people are me." Kiba said, walking off. But he didn't want to. He wanted to turn to Shikamaru and pull him in his arms. He wanted to hold the cat and take in his scent. He wanted so badly to claim what was rightfully his.

"Neji and Sasuke just moved into your cabin." Shikamaru commented as he moved to walk beside him. Looking as if he didn't care about the bond that was theirs. As if it didn't affect him. "Haku has even asked Itachi to take the spare room to help Deidara adjust to him."

Nodding his head to show that he heard, Kiba continued walking, wishing Shikamaru to leave him alone. Wishing Shikamaru would allow him to pull him closer.

"He asked me too..." Shikamaru said sometime later.

"Welcome to the family."

"But I have no reason to move in."

The pang in his chest at those words made Kiba pause. The frown on his face deepened and he had nothing more to say. What could he say? He had just been denied any chance of happiness. How was it possible to love someone so much that you wanted to hate them?

Turning his angry eyes on Shikamaru, he shook his head and shifted. Ignoring the other calling his name, he ran. Trying to run as far from the other as he could. He ran farther then he had run since they came here. The snow was hard to run upon, some places it was a stiff as board, others as soft as sand. When he lost his balance and skidded into a tree, he stayed there. Didn't bother moving. Didn't bother to check and see if he had been hurt. Too numb to care if he was.

"Kiba!" someone shouted as they dropped beside him, running their hands over his fur. "Kiba answer me!" the same person said, his scent hitting Kiba's nose. Shikamaru? "Kiba! Please, are you okay! Move! Blink anything!"

"I'm fine."Kiba said, shifting and groaning as he sat up. "Shik-"

"Then why didn't you move! Why didn't you answer me! Why did you run!" Shikamaru shouted angrily.

"We run for fun. Out of fear. To get away." Kiba answered, shaking him off as he stood and looked around. He missed the sun, the heat, the humid air. He missed a place he could call home.

"Kiba-"

"Go back to your cabin. I need to be alone."

"What's wrong with you!" Shikamaru growled, grabbing him by his arm and forcing him to stop.

"Nature." Kiba smirked coldly. "It has to be it's idea of a joke."

"What?"

"Why do you hate me?"

"I don-"

"Everytime we chance upon eachother, you fight with me, glare at me, hiss and then stalk off." Kiba cut him off. "Tell me why you hate me."

"Kiba-"

"Answer me!" Kiba snarled, his eyes changing as his nails turned into claws. His fangs more pronounced then before.

"Because you haven't layed claim to me!" Shikamaru shouted just as angrily. "I know you know that we are meant to be together! I know you know you're mine and I'm yours! You won't claim me!"

"What?"

"You are meant to be mine! But instead you choose the humans over me! You ignore me and what is meant to be ours!"

"I ignore you? You are the one that has turned away from me. I tried to lay claim but you moved away! You always move away!" Kiba hissed, ignoring the flash of hurt and pain within the other's eyes.

"I..."

"You can not deny this!" Kiba said, glaring into the other's glaring eyes. "You and your cruel sense of humor! The world surely fucked up when it paired us."

"So you do not want me? Am I not human enou-"

"No, you are as human as they come." Kiba snarled, watching Shikamaru gasp and pale. "You act just like them. Holding onto things that should have been let go of. Hating so easily. Cats aren't meant to be this way. We are meant to move on like water. Meant to hold strong like the earth. Meant to be free like the wind. Meant to be fierce like fire. We are meant to survive all that happens to us. I do not hate the humans, I don't like them either. But they are on this earth with us. We are meant to live beside them. Not be them. That is why the lions suffer so much. They are trying too hard to fit into this day and age that they lost the pride and honor that others still have. That is why they hate tigers, because tigers will never fall so low. I will not mate one that hates me and the way I am. I rather suffer for the rest of my life alone, wishing to own what can never be mine."

"Kiba-"

"Go back to your cabin and your hate, Shikamaru. Go back to being what you despise." Kiba growled as he pulled his arm free and stalked off.

-(X)-

In the nights that followed, Kiba steered clear of Shikamaru and any place he would be. When he chanced upon his scent, he walked off. Uncaring of the others confused stares. He was feeling guilty for snapping at his bonded but he would not take his words back. They were words spoken from his heart.

Moving toward the cabin, he stalked up the stairs and to his room. He had barely layed down on his bed before he registered what was going on. In the room to his right he heard the thumping of the bed and the growl like purrs coming from Naruto's room. To the room on his left, he heard grunting and and the scrapping of nails on wood coming from Gaara's room. "You have got to be shitting me." he growled angrily, moving toward his door once more and forcing it open. "Shika?"

"You are right." Shikamaru said quickly. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't-"

"Can we move this somewhere else?" Kiba asked as the noises seemed to get louder.

"Why?"

"Unless you want a new kind of music playing with you, I'm going outside."

"Musi-oh..." Shikamaru flushed, looking from Naruto's door to Gaara's. "Lets go outside then."

"Good choice." steering the other down the stairs, he waved his hand in Haku's and Hidan's direction as they moved outside. Once on the porch, he released Shikamaru and lead the way into the snow. "Now what were you saying?"

"I prepared a whole speech, actually." Shikamaru said, looking away from him. "But I lost the courage to repeat it outloud."

"I see." Kiba nodded.

"It all boils down to one thing though."

"Which is?"

"I'm sorry. For everything. You were right and...I'm sorry." he finished, pausing to look at Kiba. "Listen...why were you avoiding me?"

"Why wouldn't I?" Kiba asked. "Why go where I'm not wanted?"

"But you ar-"

"Shikamaru, we can start another argument or you can answer yes or no." Kiba said seriously. "No jokes this time. Just you and me. Right now without history, a possible future, but right now. Do you wish to be mine?"

"...Yes..." Shikamaru nodded, gasping when Kiba grabbed him around the waist and pulled him close.

"Good answer."


End file.
